"Is in a good mood"

Sick Pope reads the newspaper again

Pope Francis was admitted to the "Agostino Gemelli" polyclinic in Rome for examinations on Friday (see video above). It was reported that his bronchitis had worsened. However, he is in a "relatively good clinical condition", assured Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

The sick man had already read the newspaper and was in good spirits. Francis has started treatment with medication and is now receiving further treatment in hospital, said Bruni. All of the Pope's appointments were canceled until Monday.

Shortly before he was admitted to hospital, the 88-year-old met with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. According to the Vatican press office, the conversation focused on family and education as well as foreign policy, including the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East and the prospects for peace in Ukraine.

Second oldest pope in history
Francis has had several health problems in recent years, including pneumonia, knee pain and sciatica. He has had problems with his lungs since his youth; as a young man, part of one of his lungs was removed in his home country of Argentina.

Francis is now the second oldest pope in history. He has been in office since 2013. According to Vatican records, only Pope Leo XIII was even older, the Italian died in 1903 at the age of 93. Joseph Ratzinger, although he lived to be 95, had already stepped down nine years before his death at the end of 2022.